Programming Windows Presentation Foundation

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By Chris Sells, Ian Griffiths

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: September 2005

Pages: 448

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (formerly known by its code name "Avalon") is a brand-new presentation framework for Windows XP and Windows Vista, the next version of the Windows client operating system. For developers, WPF is a cornucopia of new technologies, including a new graphics engine that supports 3-D graphics, animation, and more; an XML-based markup language (XAML) for declaring the structure of your Windows UI; and a radical new model for controls.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation, authored by Microsoft Software Legend Chris Sells and WPF guru Ian Griffiths, is the book you need to get up to speed on WPF. By page two, you'll have written your first WPF application, and by the end of Chapter 1, "Hello WPF," you'll have completed a rapid tour of the framework and its major elements. These include the XAML markup language and the mapping of XAML markup to WinFX code; the WPF content model; layout; controls, styles, and templates; graphics and animation; and, finally, deployment.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation features:

Scores of C# and XAML examples that show you what it takes to get a WPF application up and running, from a simple "Hello, Avalon" program to a tic-tac-toe game
Insightful discussions of the powerful new programming styles that WPF brings to Windows development, especially its new model for controls
A color insert to better illustrate WPF support for 3-D, color, and other graphics effects
A tutorial on XAML, the new HTML-like markup language for declaring Windows UI
An explanation and comparison of the features that support interoperability with Windows Forms and other Windows legacy applications

The next generation of Windows applications is going to blaze a trail into the unknown. WPF represents the best of the control-based Windows world and the content-based web world; it's an engine just itching to be taken for a spin. Inside, you'll find the keys to the ignition.

Updated samples and change notes for the move from the February CTP to Beta 2 are now available from the example site: http://www.sellsbrothers.com/writing/avbook/

Chapter 1 Hello, WPF
1. WPF from Scratch
2. Navigation Applications
3. Content Model
4. Layout
5. Controls
6. Data Binding
7. Dependency Properties
8. Resources
9. Styles and Control Templates
10. Graphics
11. Application Deployment
12. Where Are We?
Chapter 2 Layout
1. Layout Basics
2. DockPanel
3. StackPanel
4. Grid
5. Canvas
6. Viewbox
7. Text Layout
8. Common Layout Properties
9. When Content Doesn't Fit
10. Custom Layout
11. Where Are We?
Chapter 3 Controls
1. What Are Controls?
2. Handling Input
3. Built-In Controls
4. Where Are We?
Chapter 4 Data Binding
1. Without Data Binding
2. Data Binding
3. Binding to List Data
4. Data Sources
5. Master-Detail Binding
6. Where Are We?
Chapter 5 Styles and Control Templates
1. Without Styles
2. Inline Styles
3. Named Styles
4. Element-Typed Styles
5. Data Templates and Styles
6. Triggers
7. Control Templates
8. Where Are We?
Chapter 6 Resources
1. Creating and Using Resources
2. Resources and Styles
3. Binary Resources
4. Global Applications
5. Where Are We?
Chapter 7 Graphics
1. Graphics Fundamentals
2. Shapes
3. Brushes and Pens
4. Transformations
5. Visual-Layer Programming
6. Video and 3-D
7. Where Are We?
Chapter 8 Animation
1. Animation Fundamentals
2. Timelines
3. Storyboards
4. Key Frame Animations
5. Creating Animations Procedurally
6. Where Are We?
Chapter 9 Custom Controls
1. Custom Control Basics
2. Choosing a Base Class
3. Custom Functionality
4. Templates
5. Default Visuals
6. Where Are We?
Chapter 10 ClickOnce Deployment
1. A Brief History of Windows Deployment
2. ClickOnce: Local Install
3. The Pieces of ClickOnce
4. Publish Properties
5. Deploying Updates
6. ClickOnce: Express Applications
7. Choosing Local Install versus Express
8. Signing ClickOnce Applications
9. Programming for ClickOnce
10. Security Considerations
11. Where Are We?

Appendix A XAML
1. XAML Essentials
2. Properties
3. Markup Extensions
4. Code-Behind
5. Using Custom Types
6. Common Child-Content Patterns
7. Loading XAML
Appendix B Interoperability
1. WPF and HWNDs
2. Hosting a Windows Form Control in WPF
3. Hosting a WPF Control in Windows Forms
4. Hosting WPF in Native HWND Apps
5. WPF and ActiveX Controls
6. WPF and HTML
Appendix C Asynchronous and Multithreaded Programming in WPF Applications
1. The WPF Threading Model
2. The Dispatcher
3. BackgroundWorker
Appendix Color Plates
Colophon

Title:

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation

By:

Chris Sells, Ian Griffiths

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Ebook
Safari Books Online

Print:

September 2005

Ebook:

June 2009

Pages:

448

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-10113-8

| ISBN 10:

0-596-10113-9

Ebook ISBN:

978-0-596-55713-3

| ISBN 10:

0-596-55713-2

Chris Sells

Chris Sells is a Program Manager for the Connected Systems Division. He's written several books, including Programming Avalon, Windows Forms Programming in C# and ATL Internals. In his free time, Chris hosts various conferences and makes a pest of himself on Microsoft internal product team discussion lists. More information about Chris, and his various projects, is available at http://www.sellsbrothers.com

View Chris Sells's full profile page.
Ian Griffiths

Ian Griffiths is an independent consultant, developer, speaker, and author. He has written books on the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Forms, and Visual Studio. He lives in London but can often be found on various developer mailing lists and newsgroups, where a popular sport is to see who can get him to write the longest email in reply to the shortest possible question. More information about what Ian is up to can be found on his blog at http://www.interact-sw.co.uk/iangblog/

View Ian Griffiths's full profile page.

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Programming Windows Presentation Foundation is a kudu. Not to be confused with kudzu, a purple-flowered vine indigenous to East Asia, the kudu, native to East Africa, comprises 2 of the 90 species of antelope: Lesser Kudu and Greater Kudu. Both species have coats of a brownish hue, adorned with white stripes. Kudu males are easily distinguished from their distaff counterparts by their twisted horns, whose myriad traditional applications among African cultures include serving as musical instruments, honey receptacles, and ritual symbols of male potency.

Sanders Kleinfeld was the production editor and proofreader for Programming Windows Presentation Foundation. Adam Witwer and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Julie Hawks wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Karen Montgomery produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was was converted by Keith Fahlgren from Microsoft Word to Adobe FrameMaker 5.5.6. with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Sanders Kleinfeld.

Description

Table of Contents

Product Details

About the Author

Colophon

Recommended for You

Chapter 1 Hello, WPF

WPF from Scratch

Navigation Applications

Content Model

Layout

Controls

Data Binding

Dependency Properties

Resources

Styles and Control Templates

Graphics

Application Deployment

Where Are We?

Chapter 2 Layout

Layout Basics

DockPanel

StackPanel

Grid

Canvas

Viewbox

Text Layout

Common Layout Properties

When Content Doesn't Fit

Custom Layout

Where Are We?

Chapter 3 Controls

What Are Controls?

Handling Input

Built-In Controls

Where Are We?

Chapter 4 Data Binding

Without Data Binding

Data Binding

Binding to List Data

Data Sources

Master-Detail Binding

Where Are We?

Chapter 5 Styles and Control Templates

Without Styles

Inline Styles

Named Styles

Element-Typed Styles

Data Templates and Styles

Triggers

Control Templates

Where Are We?

Chapter 6 Resources

Creating and Using Resources

Resources and Styles

Binary Resources

Global Applications

Where Are We?

Chapter 7 Graphics

Graphics Fundamentals

Shapes

Brushes and Pens

Transformations

Visual-Layer Programming

Video and 3-D

Where Are We?

Chapter 8 Animation

Animation Fundamentals

Timelines

Storyboards

Key Frame Animations

Creating Animations Procedurally

Where Are We?

Chapter 9 Custom Controls

Custom Control Basics

Choosing a Base Class

Custom Functionality

Templates

Default Visuals

Where Are We?

Chapter 10 ClickOnce Deployment

A Brief History of Windows Deployment

ClickOnce: Local Install

The Pieces of ClickOnce

Publish Properties

Deploying Updates